Handelsbanken Fonder AB Reduces Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 124,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,042,000 after acquiring an additional 24,498 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,539,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,939,000 after acquiring an additional 290,232 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 262,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,964,000 after acquiring an additional 120,441 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 70,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 39,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 132,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after acquiring an additional 97,034 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE:BKU opened at $27.70 on Thursday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.83 and a 1 year high of $34.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.85 and a 200-day moving average of $27.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $508.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group downgraded BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on BankUnited in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total value of $62,106.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services.